Dean Richards and Harlequins part company

Dean Richards has had his resignation accepted by the Harlequins board this weekend, following the saga of Tom Williams and the fake injury that has left the club feeling somewhat ashamed.

The European Rugby Cup judiciary panel banned Williams for 12 months, but cleared the Harlequins management of any wrongdoing. Now Richards’ resignation finally admits that the episode was not all Williams’ idea, and his appeal against the ban may well be successful.

This is a big blow for Harlequins, since Richards appeared to be forging a very competitive side, and perhaps if the ERC had made better decisions with the original sanction, this would not have happened.

Let us know what you think about the latest episode of FakeBloodCapsuleGate.

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6 thoughts on “Dean Richards and Harlequins part company”

Perhaps if Richards hadn’t cheated this would not have happened. He’s a disgrace. He should yet be sanctioned and the club should face a ban from the ERC. Hopefully Tom Williams will get his sentence reduced.

Chris, I think you need to realise that all clubs do the same thing! He is not a disgrace at all – he has acted honourably. The sanction again Williams is the disgrace – it means that eye gouging incident is not a serious incident!

This is very sad. Not just for Quins, for English rugby generally. It does now seem clear that this was an outrageous act of deliberate cheating and Richards deserves to go. I recall there were many on this site (me included) pushing for him to be considered for England coach leading up to the last two appointments. It seemed back then that the RFU had something against him – well now he has definitely cooked his goose for good. So just like the stories of Stevens, Lipman, Crockett and Higgins, spectacularly bad judgement hurts English rugby and the GP in particular. As if the cards weren’t stacked against us already….

Where does Deano go from here?! Could this mark the end of his rugby career? I can’t see how he comes back from this. What a waste.

Rugby lover – really, you think this is commonplace? What basis do you have for that?

What strikes me is that Deano CANNOT have been the only Quins staffer who knew what was going on, can he? Of course, none of it need have happened if rotating subs. were allowed in the first place, a la RL. (What? Borrow anything from League? I say, old chap!). I merely make the observation to highlight that it´s only a rule. There was no killing. And no, not even eye-gouging. And why ever did Williams give that brainless wink? It´s a thin line, huh?

Deano, if you are reading this, your life in rugby isn’t over. Please feel free to contact Purley John Fisher RFC. We are looking for a forwards coach (sorry we already have a head coach) and this could be just what you need. You never know, you might even get a run.